Ronny Johnsen, Aston Villa's Norwegian international central defender, returns to the side for Sunday's derby against Birmingham at St Andrews.

Johnsen, who has missed the last four games after suffering a hamstring strain against Manchester City last month, will take over from Alpay who has been given time off following his bust-up with David Beckham during England's Euro 2004 clash with Turkey.

Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen retains his place after proving his fitness on international duty for Denmark last weekend.

Juan Sebastian Veron will wait to see if he is restored to the Chelsea side for the match at Arsenal after being left out from the last two games.

He could replace Joe Cole if Claudio Ranieri decides he has reached the required fitness level after his £15 million move from Manchester United.

But William Gallas still looks doubtful after aggravating an ankle injury during the warm-up before Tuesday's game at Birmingham, while fellow centre back Marcel Desailly continues to have back problems. Celestine Babayaro is back in training after hamstring trouble but is unlikely to feature.

Kevin Campbell is standing by for his first game of the season for Everton against Southampton on Sunday.

Campbell's could play because Duncan Ferguson is still struggling to overcome a virus and Wayne Rooney is suspended.

Campbell damaged a hamstring in pre-season and has made steady progress in the reserves, but was kept out of Thursday's 1-1 second-string draw with West Brom in case he was needed by the seniors.

Francis Jeffers, who has had back problems and also a flu bug, played for the reserves and could also come into contention with Rooney banned for one match.

Alan Stubbs has made a quicker-than-expected recovery from a groin strain and could be fit, with David Weir on standby. Alessandro Pistone (hernia) is out for a month while Scot Gemmill is also out with a thigh injury.

Michael Owen is out of Liverpool's trip to Portsmouth with the shin injury that has sidelined him for a fortnight.

Owen has still only done gym work in his recovery programme and has yet to join in full training.

It means that boss Gerard Houllier is likely to field the same side that beat Olimpija Ljubljana in the UEFA Cup on Wednesday.

He could bring back Stephane Henchoz, who returned in that 3-0 win as a late substitute after a long spell out with calf problems, but Igor Biscan has done a good job as a replacement.

Dietmar Hamann is back in training and Chris Kirkland has now recovered from his knee trouble to take his place on the bench. Liverpool still have Danny Murphy, Jamie Carragher, Milan Baros and Bruno Cheyrou on the sick list.

Middlesbrough captain Gareth Southgate is back in contention for tomorrow's derby clash with Newcastle at the Riverside Stadium.

Southgate returns to the squad after missing the last two games with a groin injury, and he is joined by Dutch midfielder Bolo Zenden, who was ineligible for the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea last time out because of the terms of his loan agreement.

Italian striker Massimo Maccarone is also included after his recovery from an ankle injury which has sidelined him since pre-season.

On-loan Russian midfielder Alexei Smertin is out of Portsmouth's clash with Liverpool at Fratton Park with a knee injury, which could require surgery.

Hayden Foxe is standing by for a possible return to defence as centre-back Dejan Stefanovic faces a late examination on his injured hand after missing Serbia and Montenegro's final Euro 2004 qualifier in Wales last weekend.

Matthew Taylor is challenging for a return to the starting line up after a full England Under 21 appearance, while Tim Sherwood looks set to step up from the substitutes' bench, with Nigel Quashie still recovering from a knee problem.